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The Arcas pantheon is a faith of 10 gods that are universally considered important by the Arcasans. Despite being polytheistic society, most Arcasans only worship one or a few gods actively depending on the person's position and lifestyle. Other gods do exist, but their followings are small and unimportant to most Arcasans, these gods are often refered to as spirits. Overview The 10 gods of Arcas are beloved and respected in Arcas. They are seen as protectors and remain popular to this day among their followers. Many agree that this is because of the priests of the gods. To the Arcasan faith, a priest is a representative of the deity that he/she follows. They should not lock themselves away from the people. The gods already know that theses priests are devoted to them, the best way to show it is by doing work that the god would approve of making priests very active in mortal affairs. The Priesthoods are largely independent, but are bound by the laws of the Council of 11. The Council is a body of 11 priests from each of the 11 priesthoods of the 10 gods and the Elder Being Doner. The council sets policy and makes overriding theological decisions for the entire faith. It is a very powerful and prestigious position, orders and individual priest fight amongst each other for a spot on the council. The Council is overseen by the Stolman of the 11, a priest of Doner who chairs the meetings and is given the duty of convening emergency meetings when necessary. The gods are opposed by the divine beasts. The divine beasts are leftover pieces of creation. They are forces of nature that can take any form, but are often depicted as a beast. As they are pieces of creation they hold power similar to the gods, but lack their restraint and often need to be put down to prevent them from destroying things.The beasts are largely independent of each other and indeed, two beasts meeting will invariably result in a fight between them. Most beasts are not a threat to the gods and are categorized as Lesser Beasts that are only a threat to mankind (and thus are put down by the gods anyway to protect their charges). The beings that can threaten gods are considered Greater Beasts and are put down as soon as they appear by the strongest gods present. Finally the most fearsome beast, The Dragon of Ending. The Dragon is a beast’s origin is unclear, some say it was born from a dying stars, others the hatred of a realm that was killed. Regardless of the origin, all sources agree that the Dragon is a being of pure destruction. It exists only to destroy and if the gods become too weak, it will destroy the world. However it is said that the world will be reborn and life will start over, just very different from the one in the last one, which is why Arcasan are trying to preventing it. The Last Day, a day that all followers of the faith dread. It is said that when the gods are no longer worshipped and they grow weak the Dragon will return. The day of its return will be called The Last Day. On this day everything will die a final death, the Dragon, the gods, even the souls of those who are already dead. During the day it is said that the gods will die trying to stop the Dragon and their followers will die along with them. In the end, only the Dragon and Vyr’s Legion will remain. The Legion is made up of those who died worshipping Vyr, soldiers recruited from all Eras and Ages. Once everyone else is dead the Legion will march on the last day led by Vyr and his surviving children. The Legion and Dragon will clash. If the Dragon wins than the cycle will continue, another world will be born to be devoured. If the Legion wins then the current world will be reborn with the souls of those who suffered a final dead returned and life will go on the current world. The Creator The One Above All Doner, the creator of the Arcas Pantheon. Never truly portrayed like an actual god, most often he is portrayed as a being of creation that most gods have difficulty comprehending. He is mentioned in the Epic as the Father of Creation. He is a deity that does not care for the goings of a single realm, and instead stands at the center of the realms (Pelmet) constantly observing and creating realms. The most mysterious of the gods, is often only alluded to as the Father of All or as the Observer. He is the parent of the “true” gods. The Ten Great Gods The Black Watcher Eaker, god of life, death, and natural order. He is the first of the “true” gods and often seen as the most stable of the siblings. He was created by Doner to give order to life. Doner is considered to be the creator of the realms, Eaker is the one who populates the realms with living things: stars, planets, plants, animals, humans. He is portrayed as a neutral deity, taking lives is part of his role, he understands it is important and so does it without complaint and without prejudice, taking all when their time comes regardless of status or position. Most often prayed to around the birth of a new child or the death of someone. He is largely considered a benign figure that truly loves humanity, often refereed to as Father of Life and the Final Friend. He is prayed to first in general prayers and his priesthood often handles most funerals and in earlier times delivered babies and recorded births. The White Weaver Higa, goddess of fate, plans, and marriage. She is the second of the Arcasan gods and one of the most dangerous. Higa watches man from the shadows watching the story of each person play out until their deaths. Destiny in Arcas culture is not seen as a single path that all men are bound by, but instead many options that people can choose from the narrow throughout their lives as choices are made, until, death becomes inevitable. Higa however is portrayed as a proper lady who knows what her role is and dislikes it when others step out of the “roles” they are meant to play. She is however very kind to those who she likes or respects and even changes events to help these individuals out, but this is rare, even in myths that deal heavily with her. Her priesthood act as oracles, they are often consulted for giving fortunes for those who are inclined to believe them and are often the priest who officiate weddings. The Red Trickster Bron, god of fire, trickery, and shadows, One of the most highly regarded for bring fire to man. He is a figure that helps and hinders. He gave fire to man so that they could become more than what they were, and he was pleased that they have indeed become more. Bron helps men by forcing them to confront their issues. In the legends he will free the man's shadow and force him to confront his insecurities and become a better person or die, other times he will be a trickster who will force the same through his own words. He will help any he deems worthy and capable of bringing man further, but also very willing to destroy those who he does not like. His priests serve as guardians of fire and light and even today man lighthouses and even control electric companies, others follow the shadow path and drift through the nation to help people confront who they really are. The Cyan Healer Watima, goddess of water, trade, and medicine. Watima is portrayed as a normally calm deity that occasionally falls into violent moods after being displeased, on the mortal realm these take the form of rough waters, whirlpools, rouge waves, etc. For a long time it was considered proper for sailors in these straights to through valuables overboard as sacrifices to appease the goddess. As the cult of Vyr grew in prominence many sailors instead sacrificed weapons and armor to the sea in an attempt to earn Vyr's protection, this was largely a practice of common sailors, naval officers, and pirates. Considered a bad god to anger, those who slight her are often given very violent water related deaths, but is also willing to accept apologizes. Her priests are largely healers or travelers who sail from ship to ship as honored guests who drive away bad weather and act as doctors for the sailors. The Yellow Lord Lyfter, god of the sun, sky, and governance. Lyfter is featured prominently in Arcasan mythology, often as a firm, but fair ruler and honest in all things, even if saying it will hurt him. He rules the sky, his home (and home to the rest of the gods) is Hala, thus he is often associated with light as well. He is portrayed as a fair god as befitting his title of law god, he will reward good deeds and punish bad ones. Lyfter is also a determined deity, he will not stop until he achieves justice, no matter the cost, simply because that is right to him. He was favored among the nobility, but retained a great deal of popularity among the common man. His priests are called to bring good weather and formerly, to mediate meeting between nobles. Formally they acted as the justice system, providing defense attorneys and keeping records, now they remain active as clerks and some temples to run free of charge defense attorneys. The Orange Tamer Cinda, goddess of nature, eorde, and animals. She is portrayed as a happy goddess that is naïve and insensitive. She is the guardian of animals and trees, a force that observes nature. She is a nice deity at heart, but cruelty of nature has wrapped her sense of right and wrong, thus making her a very misguided goddess. A farmer who complains about a fox that has been stalking his chickens may find that it has been driven off my a wolf or bear that causes him even greater problems. A gardener that prays for more growth in his garden may find that weeds or even trees have taken root in his garden. A man who asked how to win the heart of maiden was told to kill his romantic rival, and so on. She often takes the form of a young women or an animal to play in the forest. Her priests are very close to nature and many continue to protect both people and animals as park rangers and wilderness guides The Gray Protector Vyr, god of metal, war, and protection, he is the unofficial patron god of Arcas. The patron of deity of the original tribe that founded Arcas. He is charged with maintaining the lives of men and protecting them from harm. He is the patron of many professions, farmers pray to him to protect their crops, soldiers and sailors for protection on the battlefield, workers and craftsmen for their livelihood, these qualities lead to his continued popularity to the modern day. His cult is one of the strongest in modern Arcas, partly due to his association with the Social Justice Party. His priests had many jobs, but now they mostly work as chaplains in the military or run temples that cater toward helping those of the lower class, but an order of Equalist priests did work as wandering provocateurs, encouraging unionization of farmers and workers and leading strikes against the “oppressors.” The Brown Mage Festa, goddess of harvest, home, and magic. She is prayed to for good harvests and will reward those who work hard and care for their fields. However, she also understands the soil and will occasionally create poor harvests to ensure that others will be bountiful or if she feels that the farmers are not treating their land with the proper respect. When man began to seek out knowledge Festa took notice. She was fascinated at man's ability to reason and search so she gave the wisest humans the ability to harness magic. She allowed them to see the web of fate, to harness the power of the elements, to summon creatures from beyond the realm, for this she was honored for centuries by all. Her priests jointly preside over harvest festivals with the priests of Vyr. They also offer to help with harvests and are involved in the entertainment as magicians. The Orderly Blue Man Inwit, god of reason, order, and science. Inwit is consider the most enlightened and orderly of the gods. Truly a god of man, unlike the other deities all his abilities are solely focused on man made concepts. He is portrayed as a scholarly god who values knowledge and reason above all else. He is the one that taught man to reason and learn. He is patron to the order that man creates and thus very popular with institutions of order such as the police and government, he is especially popular with the Republican government. He is also the patron of philosophers and most, if not all sciences because he is said to be the one that gave man the ability to reason and think. His priests act as collectors of knowledge, they store and protect any scrap of knowledge they can find because they believe, like their god, that all knowledge has worth, thus many act as scientists and librarians to find and protect knowledge. The Wild Green Woman Luvi, goddess of emotion, chaos, and art. The opposite of Inwit in every aspect, Luvi is a wild and impulsive deity. Luvi is like Inwit, focused on slowly man made concepts and acts as the adversary to Inwit by opposing strict adherence to them. She taught man emotions such as love and the arts. Luvi is celebrated among artists as a muse and an inspiration to live up to. She is said to have given man the ability to feel, thus tying her to Inwit as both are important to the creation and improvement of society and knowledge. This connection has led to the two being tied together, often as lovers or spouses that complete the other and cover the other's weaknesses. Her priests are lovers of art just like their goddess and have historically been supporters of many artists with their temples acting as art houses to this day where artists may come to express themselves and show off their work to everyone. Minor Gods The Messanger Abeo, God of Messages. Abeo is often depicted as a lone god that is constantly on the run. He takes his job very seriously because he is often bringing messages that could change the world. He is called the Timely God because he always seems to appear at the right moment to take a message or deliver one. Even in old plays he often shows up to deliver messages that prevent great (and senseless) tragedies from occurring. He takes every failure seriously and goes to extreme lengths to make sure it does not happen, even going through divine beasts. Abeo's priests served as court messengers and even to this day act as the postal service for messages, his temples are often primarily used as post offices with shrines to his children/subordinates acting as mail drop boxes. Category:Religion